5 Months!

Beanie turned 5 months old today!

To say that time is flying by would be an understatement. I have seen my newborn morph into a baby in what seems to be a blink of an eye.

This past month has been so much fun and challenging and exciting all at once.

Development wise its been phenomenal with Beanie learning to roll over on her tummy and sleeping on her side/tummy which means we are done with swaddling. She has outgrown the newborn sling in her bathtub and now sits in it like a big girl. Its when I see her in there that I realize just how big she has gotten.

She is now reaching for things, moving items from one hand to the other, beginning to hold her bottle (with some help). She is intensely curious now and is looking at things with interest, it also means that she gets distracted when nursing and eating.

She has this game when she is nursing where she where she will take a few gulps, then pull away, looks at me and give me the sweetest smile which melts my heart!

We are having a lot of fun making up silly games. She loves diaper changes since I have made up a silly song and dance routine which cracks her up. She also loves baths and splashes about with a very serious expression on her face which is funny to watch. She also likes getting into the car seat since it means we are going on an "adventure".

I sometimes think she perceives me as a clown since every time she sees me she starts laughing and smiling. In fact, when I try and be serious as in "its nite-nite time" or "shhh go to sleep" ...she giggles (sigh!).  But I have to admit I adore her gummy smile and cannot get enough of it even in those instances!

She is still waking up a few times at night usually around 1am and then 4/5am. But its erratic and some days she wakes a lot more often. She will invariably nurse when she wakes up.

She is trying really hard to crawl and gets frustrated when she is unable to move while on her tummy. I can tell that she cannot wait to be mobile and go about investigating things on her own. She is able to rotate direction though.

She is liking sitting with support and on laps preferably.

Funny story about the Bumbo.

I had bought a brand new one while I was pregnant and have been waiting to put her in it. When I asked the pedi at her 3 mos apt she said to wait until she is about 5-6 mos before putting her in there. A few weeks back I could not wait any longer and decided to just see how Beanie likes it.....well, she did not even fit!!  Yes my little 99% height and 79% weight baby's chubby thighs did not even fit in there.  It was hilarious!  Actually that thing is poorly designed, in my opinion, since the leg hole is so skinny on top and broad at the bottom, so not sure how a kid can even have such skinny thighs to fit in it. That was a waste of $$!

We also started solids this past month, as I blogged about earlier. Today I reintroduced oatmeal at breakfast and then for dinner. Just one teaspoon each meal. She enjoyed it and seemed to not have any spit-ups. I shall continue to give her that amount and see how it goes.

She is teething and chomping on any and everything in sight. The other morning she was on the bed and I was reading blogs on my laptop. Next thing I know she was chomping on my big toe. She loves So.phie but is not a fan of teething rings, even those that we can cool in the fridge. I think they are just too bulky. I am still looking for small ones.

I have bought her a bunch of new toys which she loves and will enjoy more as she grows. She loves books and I  read her several everyday. Her favorite is "The Prin.cess and the Pea".

I could go on and on about her and write an epic novel, but I just wanted to document some things so I remember each month. I guess this blog is now becoming more of a diary of my journey as a mother. Hopefully its not boring to you all.

I will close by saying that Beanie brings me so much joy each and every day and I am truly humbled by the adoring way she looks at me.

Sure there are times when lack of sleep and a screaming baby can be rough, but those moments are so easily forgotten in the majority of amazing moments that fill each day.  Like today when she woke at 4:45am and despite my valiant efforts she did not sleep for TWO hours, all the while "singing" and talking loudly and at times crying/fussing. Still as I lay there exhausted fighting sleep I just had to smile at her cute face and her laugh even as I saw daybreak through the blinds. 

Happy 5 month birthday, poppet.

To borrow a line from one of our favorite nighttime books -- I love you the moon .... and back!